Do animals have souls?

[Valjean]

At what point in our evolution did we suddenly acquire souls, then?

 

[niamhwitch]

Would a spider have a soul?

I believe that every living thing (and who knows maybe non living as well... although I dont have an opinion about that) has a soul, including insects and plants.

 

[Quoth The Raven]

Everything has a soul. Aqualung; if you don't beat your dog to train it when it does the wrong thing in the first place, why does it do the right thing? Certainly not from fear of a beating.
Children don't automatically do the right thing - or even consider that what they've done is wrong, even when they're told by a parent that it is (see the number of indignant children there are when they're chastised) - does that mean they don't actually acquire a soul until they learn a moral code and values?

 

[Majikthise]

And if not, why not?

Oh ,but they do ,and they are quite tatsy.:biglaugh:

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I just think it's rediculous to think that a spider could have a soul, and so I think my dogs are soul-less as well.

Everything, including spiders, squirells, cats, dogs, and even the oxygen providing plants have a soul. They all live, and all have a soul.

 

[Valjean]

Do social insects like honeybees share a single hive soul?

 

[Master Vigil]

Since I believe that the "soul" is simply energy. All life is caused by energy (whichever form it takes). So yes, animals have "souls."

 

[anders]

I don't believe in any souls, for anybody or anything. For any of us living beings, animals or plants, when we die, we're gone. Permanently. No residues but the atoms that constituted us.

 

[Pussyfoot Mouse]

I believe every living thing must have a soul. But how do we determine what a soul is exactly? And why would one living thing have a soul, but not another?

 

[Ryan2065]

I don't believe that animals have souls (I don't believe that humans do either for that matter)

So if animals have souls, what happens to them when they die? Do they go to heaven and hell? What judging critera are they judged on?

 

[Feathers in Hair]

It's interesting- I think it's easier to believe that the things we dislike don't have souls. For me, although I'm deathly afraid of spiders, one of my spirit guides is one, so I'm learning to deal with it... But critters like earwigs (at least until I get my act together) are creepy, soulless monstrosities.

For me, the greatest indicator that animals have souls came when I was very young. (Well, this was the first one I was aware of, at least.) My family and I were watching a documentry on lemurs.

HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE, SAD THING ALERT! DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF DISTRESSED

A baby lemur had just fallen from a tree and had died. Its mother kept trying to lift it up to get it to move again, and was making whimpering noises that it wouldn't do so. Eventually, another lemur came to it and kind of coaxed it soothingly away.

I thought that if animals are capable of not only sorrow, but of being able to comfort one another, then there's really nothing that makes them any lesser than humans.

 

[huajiro]

And if not, why not?

I completely believe that they do.

 

[Valjean]

Jane Goodall, the primatologist, once observed a young chimp waste away and die, apparently of grief, after his/her mother died.

 

[kreeden]

Do social insects like honeybees share a single hive soul?

I think that this is a question that shouldn't be overlooked .

Using what I believe to be a soul , no , they don't share a " hive soul " any more the urban people share an " urban soul ". But that is just my opinion .

 

[Katzpur]

I don't know. I guess if you think a dog or something can have a soul you would think a spider could too. I just think it's rediculous to think that a spider could have a soul, and so I think my dogs are soul-less as well.

Hi, Aqualung.

I just thought you'd be interested in the LDS position on this subject. When asked, "Do animals have spirits? If so, will they obtain the resurrection, and if so, where will they go?", President Joseph Fielding Smith (not to be confused with Joseph Smith, Jr.) responded:

"The simple answer is that animals do have spirits and that through the redemption made by our Savior they will come forth in the resurrection to enjoy the blessing of immortal life. The Bible as it has come to us through numerous translations and copies does not contain the information concerning the immortality of the animal world in the clearness which, without any doubt, it was invested with the pure inspiration of the revelations of the Lord."

He continued, "As to where the beasts, birds, and fish and all other creatures will go after the resurrection we can only express an opinion. John saw many of them in heaven in the presence of God."

Kathryn

 

[Valjean]

I think that this is a question that shouldn't be overlooked .

Using what I believe to be a soul , no , they don't share a " hive soul " any more the urban people share an " urban soul ". But that is just my opinion .

But urban people are individual organisms. Many Biologists look at a honeybee hive as a single organism with detachable cells, having its own endocrine system, thermoregulation, circulation &c.

And just to further confuse the issue, if hives do have a unified soul, are naked mole rats headed the same way?

 

[Stormygale]

Animals have personalities. Animals seemingly make ways to communicate with you if you are close enough to them. Animals tend to have social and community skills when they are left alone in the wild. Hmm...animals could have souls, but, a cow on my hamburger sounds so much better than worrying about whether it should have been killed because its soul wasn't ready to go to Heaven!

 

[Valjean]

Perhaps you should hedge your bets and eschew meat altogether, Stormy.

 

[kreeden]

But urban people are individual organisms. Many Biologists look at a honeybee hive as a single organism with detachable cells, having its own endocrine system, thermoregulation, circulation &c.

And just to further confuse the issue, if hives do have a unified soul, are naked mole rats headed the same way?

Yes , if viewed by a more " advanced " species , perhaps urbanites are also detachable cells of the same organism ? If I'm not mistaken , there isn't more difference between a Queen Bee , and a Worker . Mostly just that the Queen had been feed royal jelly ? But that may not be the case for all types of bees ? And not all bees live in hives . The Queen Bumblebee , for excample , often starts the spring off doing all of the work , untill she raises Workers for the season .

Now , I do see the connection often made , that a hive is a single organism . AI is based on hive intelligence . But I believe that it is just a simple comparsion to describe how a hive works . Just as my comparsion between a hive and a city .

The concept of a " hive soul " is very interesting though . Could it be compared to what we often call the " Human Spirit " ?

I don't know anything about naked mole rats at all . Sorry . However , I do believe that plants also have souls of a type . But then , I have made my views on the topic quite clear .